The Hueco Mundo Sun
by Kenyowa Krainius
Summary: When Matthew Williams dies and is sent to the Soul Society, he finds a curious destiny awaits him. Will he rise to glory, or be crushed by the rising star of Hueco Mundo? Human names used. Rated M for violence, blood, and language.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**A/N: **Hello! This is the first of a large Bleachtalia crossover that I've been planning for a while. Some things to note: All Zanpakuto names will be in the language of the nation in question (because what reason would Denmark have to speak Japanese?), and human names are most definitely used.

Human names for this chapter:

**Canada**: Matthew Williams

**Vietnam**: Lien Nguyen

**The Netherlands**: Klaas van Denend

* * *

This is not a story about the making of a legend. It is not a story about a post-apocalyptic future. It is not about two lovers, nor is it about a horrible monster. This is a story about the evolution of one's own being during a time of strife.

It all began in the city of Toronto, in the apartment of a young man known as Matthew Williams. He works a part-time job at a local Tim Horton's, and is a sophomore at the University of Toronto, majoring in Physics. He is exceedingly normal, in an almost heart-breaking way. There is only one exception to his normalcy.

Since the day he was born, Matthew Williams has been able to see ghosts.

Aside from the normal ghost appearances, he has noticed other strange occurrences: men and women running around in black kimonos wielding katanas, giant monsters with skulls for faces, and battles between these two. Over the past three years, the monster attacks became worse and worse, each battle getting closer to his home. No matter where he moved, they always remained nearby. He is now accustomed to looking over his shoulder on the walk from his apartment to the university. None have ever attacked him in public, but the paranoia was overwhelming. None have ever attacked him in private, for that matter, but even so fear runs rampant through his heart. Only in school does he truly feel safe. As this story opens, even this will be stripped from him.

Nothing shall ever be the same.

* * *

_God, I'm so bored._

Matthew gazed into the back of his eyelids as he struggled to use his desk as a pillow. It was philosophy class, and if there was anything in the world he truly hated, it was some old man lecturing him about the meaning of life. _Why on earth did I choose this class, _he often wondered. _Oh yeah. My cousin told me it was interesting_, he would immediately remember. _Never listening to her again. _Thankfully, the bell rang, cutting the lecture short. The professor began to assign homework, but it was all babble to Matthew. He was already out the door before he finished his first sentence.

The world around him was a blur as he biked down the street to the next class. Boring old farts aside, he had spent all last night watching another battle between the monsters and the oddballs in the black robes. It was one hell of a battle too: the building next door to his apartment complex was destroyed after the woman kicked the monster into it and split its head down the middle with what might have been the longest axe Matthew had seen in his entire life. The next morning, the news claimed that it was a gas leak. But he knew what he saw. It rolled through his head the entire night. Before he knew it, it was time to get ready for class and he had not slept a minute that night. And so here he was: sleepless, annoyed, and bored out of his mind.

Being so distracted while riding his bike, it was no wonder that he would crash into somebody. He suddenly found himself face-first in a pair of breasts. That woke him up. He laid there in shock for a minute before he felt something grab the side of his head.

"Hey, can you not?"

Suddenly, Matthew found himself on his back, staring up at the sky. Presumably he was being chastised by the woman whose breasts he just used as a pillow. Getting up, he rubbed his eyes, regaining his bearings when his eyes locked on the woman's face. She was a youthful Asian woman, average but muscular. That wasn't what was important though.

"It's you!" he snapped.

Her face became confused and skeptical. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"You- you were outside! In the black robes last night, fighting that thing!"

The woman's composure broke for a moment, allowing her to show a great amount of alarm before her face grew dark. "Listen, I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but I have to get to class." She picked up his calculus book and tossed it back at him. "By the way, you passed the building a block ago. I don't know if you're lost, stupid, or just a bad driver, but I would hurry up if I were you." With that, she fetched up her bookbag and bolted, leaving Matthew on the ground, looking very confused.

* * *

Matthew paid absolutely no attention to the lesson in calculus that day. Most of his attention was fixed on the woman sitting across the room.

_Strange,_ he thought. _I could have sworn she wasn't in this class for the past half of the semester. If she's a new student, then why haven't they introduced her?_

After class, he walked over to a classmate that had sat next to her; she was long gone, to God knows where. _Maybe to go destroy another building,_ he remarked.

"Hey, Klaas. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

The blue-eyed man turned around to look at him. He had short blond hair, spiked up at the front, almost like a crown. "Sure, Matt. What do you need?"

"That girl who sat next to you today- is she new? I haven't seen her around here before."

Stoic as usual, Klaas raised an eyebrow. "You mean Lien Nguyen? She's been here the whole year so far. Star student. Why do you ask?"

Matthew paused, trying to think up a decent response that didn't make him sound completely insane. "Er, no reason. Just never really saw her around before."

Klaas' lips curled up slightly. "Perhaps you should get your glasses checked."

"Tch. Rude."

The taller man snorted as he stood up to leave. "Some people just don't understand the finer points of humor. See you later, kid." With that, the taller man turned to leave.

_What a weird guy, _Matthew thought to himself.

* * *

The day passed and Matthew could not get Lien off his mind.

_Why is she here? Why is she fighting monsters on my doorstep? Why does everybody remember her when I don't?_

Questions swirled around in his head as he rode back to his apartment, but it all came to an abrupt stop after a quick glance to his right. He came to a screeching halt as he watched one of those skull-faced freaks walk- no, _fly _into a dark alley. He couldn't take it anymore. Turning around, he rode his bike into the alley after it.

Leaning it up against the wall, he got on his feet and looked up at the monster. It was shaped like a pterodactyl, with green skin and a tall skull. Closer now, he realized it wasn't a skull to be precise: it was a mask. In the center of its body was a large, circular hole. It clearly wasn't an injury, but from what he could fathom, it certainly wasn't a blessing either. Gathering his courage, he took a deep breath and began to yell up at the monster.

"Hey, buddy! We need to talk!"

The monster looked down at him and tilted its head in curiosity.

"Yeah! Can you tell your buddies to stop hanging around my apartment? You're keepin' me up at nigh-"

"_You_," croaked the creature, catching Matt off guard.

"Eh?" All the confidence in his body just left. It _talked! __**Why can it talk?**_

"_You're the one with the tasty-smelling reiatsu I've been smelling!_"

"Pardon, the tasty what?"

His confusion went unanswered as the monster roared and took flight, diving straight towards Matthew.

_Oh shit!_ he thought, paralyzed with fear. Not a muscle in his body could move. That was when he saw the shadow leap off the top of the building, sword in hand. A ringing shout echoed through the alley.

"Smack, _Kim Loại Dữ_!"

Matthew watched in amazement as the sword extended into a staff, twice the size of the wielder, and grew an axe-head at the top. He knew that pole-axe. But how could a sword be an axe? How does that make any sense? It didn't really matter to him, because a second later, Lien Nguyen, wearing a black kimono with a white badge on her left arm, dove through the creature's left wing, splattering blood and the monster's screams all over the alley. Landing on her feet, the woman stood back up and took a deep breath before turning her to Matthew.

"Eheheh…" Matt could barely form words. "Well, I… um-"

His stammering was cut short as she grabbed him by the front of his shirt and slammed him up against the alley wall.

"Just what the _hell _do you think you're doing?!" she barked in his face. "First, you let your reiatsu leak out so thickly that hollows approach you in droves and Soul Society has to send a goddamn _lieutenant_ to investigate, then you actively seek out your death!? What kind of stupid are you?"

Matthew stared in confusion. "Reia- soul- what on earth are you talking about?"

"Oh, don't give me that _crap_!" she shouted, glaring angrily into his eyes. "Your spiritual pressure is too great for you to not know what you are. What squad are you in!? Just WHO the hell are you?!"

Sadly, he wasn't paying attention anymore. The monster- no, _hollow _as she had called it- had regenerated its wing and prepared to charge.

"Are you even listening to me-"

Her temper tantrum was cut short as Matthew threw her to the ground just as the hollow soared past them. A second too late, Matthew realized he probably should have hit the ground as well, as the hollow's wing slashed him across the chest as it passed by. Lien's alarmed and livid face became full of shock and terror as she watched Matthew drop to the ground, bleeding out. As she ran to his aid, the hollow turned around for another pass. It slashed her shoulder as it passed by, causing her to drop her axe. Matthew could barely breathe, and his comprehension was at its limits. The hollow turned around for what would assuredly be the final pass. It came roaring down the alleyway when a man in a black kimono appeared in front of them, holding a long, black broadsword. A wooden badge hung from his sash, with a skull and cross on it. A voice called out that Matthew had heard not so long ago.

"Crash, _Waarheid!_"

A blue beam shot out of the tip of the sword, punching directly through the hollow's mask. Screams of terror and agony echoed throughout the alley as it quickly dissolved. The tall, blond figure turned around and looked down upon them.

"If a lieutenant has trouble with a hollow of that power, then the Gotei 13 is in serious trouble." A familiar smirk filled his face.

Lien stared in shock. "You're- you're a-"

The man raised the wooden badge on his belt. "I'm Klaas van Denend, a Substitute Soul Reaper." He turned his gaze to Matthew as his the smirk fell from his face. "Looks like you've got a bit of a problem here."

Matthew groaned weakly as Lien began to stand.

"No shit, Klaas." muttered Lien. "Aren't you supposed to protect people like him from hollows? Isn't that why you got the badge?"

Klaas shook his head. "I would've hoped that a lieutenant- of Squad 11 of all places- would have done better than me here, but it seems I was mistaken. That's not the problem I was talking about, though.

Lien's eyebrows furrowed. "Really," she barked, "what is it then?"

"It seems that you owe him one." The substitute soul reaper knelt down to check out Matthew's wound. "I saw the whole thing. If he hadn't pushed you down, you would've had your head lopped right off. And wouldn't that be a bitch."

"Tch." Lien scowled and looked down at Matt. "Listen kid- I don't know why you have reiatsu this strong for a human, and I don't know why your soul feels like that of a soul reaper. But I do owe you one. You're a dead man, don't get me wrong; that wound is fatal. When you reach the other side, head to the Seireitei and look me up. I'll get you a use for that power."

Matthew gave a frail nod. _Soul Reaper? Seireitei? Reiatsu? I don't know what she's talking about at all! _The world began to dim. _I'm going to die_, he thought.

His life flashing before his eyes, his body ceased to move.

The last thought to pass through his mind?

_I might just have to take you up on that offer, Miss Nguyen._

* * *

**A/N: End of the prologue! Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2: A Windy Day

Human names used this chapter:

**Adalbert Beilschmidt: Germania**

**Yekaterina Braginskaya: Ukraine**

**Feliks Łukasiewicz: Poland**

* * *

**30 YEARS LATER**

A blizzard stretched out before the robed man as he gripped a sheathed katana with his right hand. He had to admit, the cold would be far more bearable if he could have dressed for the weather, but such was against squad protocol. The Gotei 13 uniform had to be worn at all times while on assignment in the world of the living. Had he been back in his barracks, he would have thrown on a coat before entering his inner world. Sadly, this wasn't a choice in his current situation.

The soul reaper gazed out into the storm as the familiar figure began to trudge through the snow. Piercing blue eyes glowed through the snowstorm as they emerged into the clearing. A ten-foot tall polar bear, clad in shining silver armor with a medieval flail hung at its waist, stared down at the comparatively puny man. A deep voice rumbled like thunder, rough but soothing, as the beast opened its mouth.

"_Why have you not summoned me?_"

The soul reaper's solemn expression fell to pieces immediately with a roll of the eyes.

"I've told you before and I'll tell you again: this is the world of the living. I can't train with something like _that_ here."

The bear responded with a sigh. "_You won't get better if you don't practice, Matthew._"

The man in the kimono pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Of course, the polar bear was right, but he'd be damned if he'd let his own sword out-argue him.

"Practice can wait until we return to the Soul Society. For now, we're just assigned here for hollow control, alright?"

The polar bear looked like he was about to return fire, but was interrupted by a beeping noise from the sky. The soul reaper knew that sound all too well.

"Sorry. The hollows take priority here. This argument will have to wait until I return to Soul Society next week. We'll continue our training then."

A low rumbling noise came from the bear's mouth, something akin to "As you wish."

With that, the soul reaper exited his inner world.

* * *

The hollow was shaped like a fat lizard, perched on all fours with its belly barely leaving the ground. Matthew Williams concealed his spiritual pressure while evaluating the threat from a rooftop. It was too easy, really: the hollow's attention was turned to a young whole, who was shrieking hysterically. It would never even see him coming.

Matthew drew his zanpakuto, a katana with a white hilt and a spiral-shaped tsuba. Careful to hide the gleam of his blade, he took up a position to charge. Preparing for a flash step, he began to channel spiritual energy into his muscles, strengthening his legs. After taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, he sprung forward at an impossible speed. To the untrained eye, it would look as if he had suddenly appeared on the other side of the hollow, but any seated officer could have easily seen through such a lazy flash step. On the other hand, the hollow quite clearly did not read through it at all. Spewing blood from its mask, it screamed horribly as it dissolved, being cleansed and sent to the Soul Society. Such was the task of a soul reaper.

Matthew Williams lowered his sword and took up a more casual stance. His reprieve was interrupted as he noticed that the whole was not only still shrieking, but was also covered in the hollow's blood. He sighed, flipping his sword around to prepare for Konso. Kneeling down in front of the cowering spirit, he spoke softly.

"Hello. Sorry about the blood, ma'am." He grimaced he grasped her hand. "I'm sending you to a better place, so don't worry." Not giving her time to respond, he quickly pressed the bottom of his zanpakuto to her forehead, leaving behind a blue mark. As she slowly disappeared, entering the Soul Society, he sheathed his sword.

It had been thirty years since he was killed by a hollow in this very same city. Thirty years since he had joined the Shino Academy to become a soul reaper. He passed the academy in two years and joined the Gotei 13 as a member of Squad 10, immediately landing him a position as 5th Seat.

Of course, Squad 10 might not have been the best result; within the two years that he spent in the academy, the Gotei 13 had undergone a massive change. With Squad 10 Captain Adalbert Beilschmidt's ascension to the Royal Guard and the accompanying disappearances of several ranked officers, including two captains, the Seireitei was thrown into chaos. Accompanying this was the ceding of the title of Kenpachi. As all potential opponents had vanished, Lien Nguyen, the woman who brought Matthew to the Soul Society, was named the 13th Kenpachi. By the time he had graduated, new captains had been chosen for Squads 2 and 3, but Squad 10 remained without a captain, headed instead by Lieutenant Yekaterina Braginskaya. The whole thing was a mess, but he couldn't help what Squad he was put in.

Within four years, Matthew had his first meeting with his zanpakuto spirit, and half a year later he was able to perform Shikai. He quickly moved up to 3rd Seat over the following years, gaining fame and a reputation as the latest hotshot Soul Reaper. Several captains approached him about becoming a member of their squad, but he denied each one. Matthew was perfectly content in his somewhat disorderly squad.

Less than a week ago, he was assigned a high-level mission in the World of the Living by Head Captain Yao Wang himself. He was to investigate a growing number of hollow attacks in Toronto. However, it was not the number of hollows that was concerning. As a high spiritual density zone in North America, it was to be expected.

The problem was not the quantity, but the quality.

The week prior, two hollows dangerously close to the level of Gillian were detected in the city. They were quickly dispatched by the Stealth Force, but the time for inaction had passed. Matthew was to discover the source of these hollow attacks, and destroy it. He was proud to be trusted with such a task, but nervous at the same time. What if he could not identify the cause? What if he lost? What if he died to a hollow again?

Matthew, tired of his reflection on the past, stood up and brushed himself off. There was no destruction of property involved, so there was no need to call for building restoration. In retrospect, this was a fairly effortless method of destroying hollows. If he had a different zanpakuto he might have seriously considered it, but his weapon really didn't work that way.

It was then that it began, of course. The second that his body lost its tension and he began to relax, a black hole was ripped open in the air, about twenty meters tall. As Matthew stared in awe, a large skeletal hand grabbed the edge of the hole and tore it open wider. Two shadows poked their heads out near the top, and Matthew's blood froze.

He had read about the Menos Grande in textbooks during his academy days, but he never imagined that a Garganta would be opened in the middle of Toronto. Neither would he have even thought about the mass of spiritual pressure that the two exerted in joint.

In short, he was not prepared in the slightest.

Out of the Garganta they stepped, in long flowing black robes with horrifyingly large masks with a sharp, pointed nose. Their beady eyes seemed to pierce whatever they looked at.

At this point in time, they were looking directly at Matthew.

The shock of seeing their eyes brought him back to the world, and he immediately drew his sword. Closing the distance easily with a flash step, he sprung into the air and gathered spirit particles under his feet, allowing him to float at the same level as the Gillians' heads. He thought back to his training. When faced with multiple enemies, divide and conquer. With this in mind, he pointed his free index finger towards the Gillian on the left and began to recite the incantation:

"Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six! Bakudo Number Sixty-one: _Rikujokoro!_"

Six beams of light formed and caught the first Gillian around its mask, binding its mouth. _Won't be using a Cero anytime soon_, thought Matthew as he turned back to the other Gillian.

"Listen here. I don't know why you're in this town, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Permanently. Sorry for the inconvenience. So let's make this quick, eh?" With his right hand holding his sword straight out to the right, wind began to gather around his arm and sword.

"Snarl, _Winds of the North!_"

As the winds around his zanpakuto died down, they were replaced by a silver medieval flail. The chain was long with a small, spiked ball at the end. Matthew held his flail behind him and began his attack, swinging his chain up at the Gillian, who was much too far away to be hit by his weapon.

Or so it thought.

"_Frost!_" cried Matthew, and the air around the ball's path froze, the blast of ice shooting forward towards the Gillian's face. Though he had questioned whether or not such an attack could really work against a Menos, he was surprised to see the mask shatter where the ice attack pierced it. Was he stronger than he thought he was, or were the Gillians just weaker. He didn't wait to find out. Raising his left hand to the other Menos, he felt a burst of confidence.

Deciding to cut the incantation, he just skipped to the punch. "Hado Number Thirty-three: _Sokatsui!_" Blue flames rolled from his palm into the sky, creating an inferno that enveloped the head of the Menos. He did not need to check the mask to know that it was defeated.

It was just as his friend, Lieutenant Łukasiewicz, had said. He really was at the level of a lieutenant.

Returning to the ground, he watched as the two Menos disappeared. He didn't know how he could've possibly won that easily. His power was real, but could a Menos really be on such a low level?

Suddenly, the sound of another Garganta opening up came from ten feet behind him. He turned around to look, but the hole was much smaller this time, of a similar height to his own.

_What the hell is happening?_

* * *

**A/N: **Wow! Looks like shit's going down with Matthew. Talk about not knowing your own strength. He might not even know his own limits now. Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3: A Masked Threat

**Human names used**:  
**Raivis Galante: Latvia  
Taurys Laurinatis: Lithuania  
Ivan Braginsky: Russia  
Alfred Jones: USA  
Arthur Kirkland: UK  
Feliciano Vargas: Northern Italy**

* * *

4th Seat Raivis Galante of Squad 12 sat at the monitor, which displayed a large map of Toronto. The Soul Reaper Institute of Technology, which had become synonymous with the name "Squad 12" in the past century, had been assigned the task of monitoring 3rd Seat Williams' investigation in the World of the Living.

At the moment, he could not believe his eyes. Two Menos taken down within two minutes! A feat like that would maybe have been expected of a captain or lieutenant, but a 3rd Seat? It was unbelievable.

"Hey, Taurys! Come over here!"

An incredibly tall, dark-haired man wearing a white lab coat over his shihakusho walked over to peek over Raivis' shoulder.

A look of curiosity grew on his face. "Is this the 3rd Seat from Squad 10?"

Raivis responded with exaggerated nodding. "Yeah, but he's something else! This guy just took down two Gillians with barely any hesitation!"

Taurys lifted an eyebrow. "Really?" He snorted. "Sounds to me like Squad 10's starting to patch themselves up. From the looks of things, he might just be their next captain." After a moment of thought, he opened his mouth to start speaking again just as a shadow loomed over them.

"Hm? What is all the commotion over here?"

Their eyes widening immediately, the two officers snapped to a position of attention, turning around to face a silver-haired man whose height dwarfed even that of Taurys.

"Reporting in, Captain Braginsky sir!" they shouted simultaneously.

The man sighed and waved it off as they settled out of attention. "Yes, yes, just go on with what you were saying."

Raivis, oddly shaken by his captain's sudden appearance, began to explain the situation to him.

"Ah, I see. So Squad 10 has a captain in the making, yes?" The silver-haired man smiled, but Raivis had been in Squad 12 for long enough to know that it was only a show of manners. A quick glance at his eyes would prove that there were no true intentions behind that smile. This was just his captain attempting small talk to make sneaking up on them seem less weird.

"Yeah, I guess." Raivis rubbed the back of his head, when the captain's eyes suddenly widened. Turning back to the screen, he saw the crimson dots on the map of Toronto. A small squeak escaped his lips.

"Taurys," commanded the captain, going into overdrive, "send a Hell Butterfly to the Head Captain immediately! Inform him of the current situation." After a second's pause, he added, "Request to lift the Gentei Kaijo as well. Go, now!"

Trembling, Raivis slowly clicked on the glowing red dots on the screen, staring at their power gauge.

_Oh shit._

* * *

Matthew had never been so confused in his entire life. Neither had he been so after his death. The only feeling that reigned over his confusion was the darkest of them all.

Fear.

Slowly, the Garganta widened to three times its width. The shadows inside it began to solidify. The forms emerging were humans- but at the same time, they weren't. As he noticed the gaping holes in their chests, he came to realize this immediately. _Are they hollows?_ he thought, but immediately thought better of it as he saw the swords slung on their waists.

_Zanpakuto._

_They have Zanpakuto._

The one in the center had long, fiery red hair, a partial bony mask on that mimicked a crown, and glowing yellow eyes. On the left stood a woman with short, purple hair and another half-mask that mimicked an eagle's beak. Finally, on the right stood a skinny man with black hair and a mask covering his mouth that mimicked an oversized, sadistic grin.

Their very presence chilled Matthew's soul. _What the hell are they? Hollows? Soul Reapers? Are they Vasto Lorde?_

"Are you the one who killed those two Menos?"

He came to his senses as he realized he was being spoken to.

"Eh?"

"Pay attention, _campesino_. Are you the one who killed those Menos?" spoke the red-haired man in the middle. His nose was pointed high and he pointedly refused to look at Matthew. Something told him that this guy was bad news.

"Yeah… what of it?"

The man smirked. "Wrong answer."

At first, Matthew thought he had blinked. That would be a reasonable explanation as to how he failed to see the red-haired man's attack coming. Then he realized that it was not so.

Hollow, Soul Reaper, or otherwise, this man was far beyond any power he had ever seen.

The next thing he knew, he felt a searing pain cut through his torso, from his hip to the opposite shoulder. The red-haired man was only a foot away from him, one hand in his pocket and the other one lingered above Matt's shoulder, where it had cut through his flesh. Blood spurted out as he fell to the ground.

_Damn…_

"Haha! I told you to pay attention, _campesino_. Maybe if you had, you would not have missed it like you did." The arrogant smile on the red-haired man's face shone with cruelty. He sighed. "I had hoped that you would at least pose a challenge, _campesino_, but you went down so fast that the Garganta has not even closed yet." He turned away from Matthew. "Pathetic."

_Damn it…_ thought Matthew as his vision began to fade. His thoughts jumbled themselves together. Blood leaking from his wound, he laid on the ground. Through the shambled mess, one train of thought won out.

_I… I don't want… to die again!_

His leg budged slightly. The red-haired man stopped moving.

_Move…!_

"It is useless, _campesino_. It will only hasten your death."

_Damn it!_

He couldn't say how or when he stood up, but the next thing he knew, he was back on his feet. His zanpakuto was slippery with his own blood, but he somehow managed to hold onto it.

The red-haired man sighed. "I am a generous king. I am trying to make things easier for you, _campesino_. Just let go."

Matthew knew this guy was saying something, but he couldn't understand it, and he had a feeling he wouldn't care even if he could. He just gripped his zanpakuto tighter.

"S…" he began. "S-Snarl… _Winds of the North_."

Wind swallowed his arm for a moment, and dispersed as a medieval flail appeared.

"You are brave, _campesino_, I will give you that." He stuck his hand out behind him, his palm opened. "For that, I shall give you a quick death." An orange ball of light began to gather in his hand.

_A Cero…_ thought Matthew, his thoughts trailing off again.

"This is the end. Goodbye, _campesino._"

Matthew closed his eyes and braced himself for the fatal impact.

But it never came.

Two seconds, three seconds, he waited. Still, no impact came. Cracking open his eyes, he saw the back of a captain's haori, adorned with the kanji for the number "five."

Immediately, he knew who had saved him.

The man stood with a claymore pointed directly at the red-haired assailant. Clearly, he had blocked the Cero with the tip of his sword.

The red-haired man was outraged, and the other two were in shock. "Oi! Who the hell are you?"

Captain Alfred Jones of Squad 5 smirked and looked him in the eyes.

"A hero."

At the same time as he said this, more upper-captain-level spiritual pressures appeared. Matthew recognized all of them: Captain Arthur Kirkland of Squad 3, and Captain Kenpachi Nguyen of Squad 11.

"I… I'm saved," he muttered, and fell backwards into a pair of arms. Looking up, he recognized Captain Feliciano Vargas of Squad 4.

"Don't talk," Feliciano muttered. "Let me heal your wounds-"

His eyes grew large as a shadow appeared behind him. It seemed that the red-haired man's accomplices had chosen to no longer keep quiet. The black-haired man raised his sword.

"I dunno who the hell you are, but you'd better scram!"

As his blade swung down, it was intercepted by a halberd shortly before the black-haired man flew backward with a kick to the jaw. Lien twirled her zanpakuto and scoffed.

"Sorry, guy. But we Soul Reapers aren't the kind of people who stand there and let a comrade get their ass kicked."

Even though the mask covered his mouth, Matthew could tell that the black-haired man was sneering. "Who said he was getting his ass kicked?"

Matthew directed his attention back to Captain Jones and the red-haired man, who were now clashing. As far as he could see, they were about evenly matched. Turning his attention back to the woman with the bird mask, he saw Captain Kirkland duking it out with her. Glancing up, he looked at Captain Vargas while being healed.

"Captain Vargas, sir… what… what are these people?" he spoke in a hoarse voice.

Feliciano breathed out sharply. "They are called Arrancar. They are hollows who removed their mask in order to gain Soul Reaper-like powers." The captain glanced back up at the fights raging on. "Judging by their strength… I would guess that they were all Adjuchas-class Menos before becoming Arrancar."

As if to accentuate his point, both Captain Kirkland as well as Captain Jones simultaneously crashed into the ground, and Lien flew into a building.

From Captain Vargas' description, Matthew could easily tell that all of these Arrancar underwent a massive power-up during their transformation.

_How can our captains possibly win?_

* * *

**A/N: **Arrancar! The Gotei 13's in for it now. I wonder how they're going to pull through this one.

On a side note, the word _campesino_ is Spanish for "peasant."

Please review!


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